EA CEO Andrew Wilson said that online subscriptions could be the future of annual boxed releases of sports games like FIFA, and Madden NFL.

According to Wilson, as the industry moves more towards the games-as-a-service model and consumers rely more and more on digital downloads, this transition will become easier. Speaking to Bllomberg, Wilson gave the example Madden’s mobile title, which released three years ago and only received big updates every season.

With that in mind, the CEO is aware that there’s a challenge in translating a model that works great on mobile to a console game. “When we design a game that lives in a true streaming world, we have to think about screen size and session time,” said Wilson.

“How does a Madden game that exists in the cloud manifest on your mobile phone, one minute at a time? How does that manifest on your 60-inch TV, an hour at a time.”

I'd like NHL to be brought back but it'll never happen in either title's case, the sales for sports titles on PC just weren't there. People tended to take a solid base version and just use mods to update them, be it rosters or board ads or whatever.